KENTWOOD -- As vice president of an independent company, Nevin Groce wants legislators to face up the need for health care reform.

So he agreed to use his own face and story in a booklet delivered to Capitol Hill last week, a document calling for a solution to the skyrocketing health care costs he has struggled with in the past 10 years.

Groce, vice president of L&G Industrial Products, at 4655 Patterson Ave. SE in Kentwood, is among 19 small business representatives featured in The National Federation of Independent Business' "The Faces of the Healthcare Crisis: Small Business in America."

Press Photo/Dave RaczkowskiNevin Groce, of L&G Industrial Products in Kentwood, is struggling to provide his employees with health care.

The NFIB is a 65-year-old small business association with about 350,000 members, with offices in Washington, D.C., and 50 state capitals.

"I was asked if I could tell my story for the pamphlet. I was excited to do that to make sure that Congress understands that it is a real problem facing real companies, and those companies have a face," he said.

Groce, 36, is an active member of NFIB and has spoken to Congress on the advocacy organization's behalf. The booklet is part of NFIB's Solution's Start Here campaign for health care reform.

L&G Industrial Products, an office furniture component supplier, was started 15 years ago by his parents, Nolan and Julia Groce. Of 30 employees at the minority-owned company, about half are family members and friends, Groce said.

So providing workers with medical, dental and vision insurance is a must, he said. But annual double-digit heath cost increases must stop.

"It's not just a numbers game where we say, 'Hey, we are going to pass this along to our employees and make them pay extra or we are going to deny benefits to divert the costs.' It's a tough issue, and every year we are faced with how to change our insurance so we can afford it," he said.

The company has switched carriers and raised deductibles as temporary solutions.

"But we are going to run out of Band-Aids. So we really need a solution because the number of Band-Aids in shrinking greatly."

His story in the booklet speaks of the struggle, and although he doesn't propose a solution, he wants to reach the people that can.

"At this rate, it will be impossible for us to keep up with rising costs unless significant changes are made," he said in the booklet.

NFIB spokeswoman Stephanie Cathcart said health care insurance premiums have increased 130 percent since 2000 in the small-employer market and small providers pay an average of 18 percent more for the same benefit as large providers.

"There are faces behind this -- 28 million of 47 million uninsured people are small business owners, employees or dependents," she said.

The small businesses growing the economy need an easier way, she said.

"It's not strange to hear from our members that they are seeing 20 to 30 percent increases each year."